Arteta says Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal’s home Premier League game against Everton after scans suggest possible grade-two rupture
Mikel Arteta has confirmed Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal’s home Premier League match against Everton on Saturday after scans showed fluid around the injury and further imaging is under way, with the club fearing a possible grade-two rupture that could sideline the winger for up to six weeks.
Arteta said Saka’s capacity to withstand the current workload has diminished and hinted the player has been affected by the dense fixture calendar. Saka has a history of physical problems, including an Achilles issue that troubled him in the second part of last season and during the World Cup, and he has also suffered hamstring, hip and thigh ailments. The club reports that Saka has picked up a quad injury in this instance.
Asked about player workload, Arteta acknowledged recent changes in the schedule and the pressure on players’ bodies, saying: "Well, it’s certainly been different in the last year or so." He added that the demands placed on every player are substantial: "Obviously the demands that we are putting to every player are immense. The amount of games, the intensity of those matches, the international competitions, the times as well between games are getting narrower."
Arteta described the tight turnaround between matches and the impact on recovery windows, saying: "So look at us now, we have to play on Sunday afternoon, then we have to go away, we have to play on Wednesday evening, then we have to play on Saturday. So you go less than 66-67 hours between games." He also stressed the importance of managing minutes and recovery, adding: "On top of everything that we are putting, every hour is important. If they can support all the demands that we are putting to the players in that sense, that would be as well really appreciated from everybody."
On the immediate diagnosis, Arteta delivered a guarded assessment: "It doesn’t look good. Bukayo has another MRI this afternoon because he had quite a lot of fluid in the area so it was difficult to understand the extent of the injury, but we’ll know more probably tomorrow. Again, we need a few more scans and opinions from specialist." The club has indicated further scans and specialist assessments are planned to clarify the severity.
Saka will miss Saturday’s fixture against Everton, but how many subsequent matches he will be unavailable for remains unclear. Reports state Arsenal fear it might be a grade-two rupture that could potentially keep him out for up to six weeks, and some coverage has suggested a minimum absence of six weeks pending the additional scans.
Arsenal will await the results of the additional MRI and specialist opinions, with Arteta saying the club expects to have a clearer picture "probably tomorrow" and further decisions on Saka’s availability to follow once those assessments are complete.
